


Another Planet's Moon

by TransScribe



Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty
Genre: A moon, Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, also I still can't name fics but oh well, but a moon, domestic as shit, enjoy, for ghost, not THE Moon, prepare to rot your teeth out, prompts, stanchez, this took me way too long to finish, who has been screaming with me while I finish this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8290868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransScribe/pseuds/TransScribe
Summary: Based on a prompt by Arichu in the stanchez slack chat
Prompt: Moon





	

**Author's Note:**

> It's been 84 years...
> 
> This took me far too long to finish. I apologise.

“Ok, and to turn y-you just move this wheel,” Rick instructed. Beth nodded, her tongue poking through her teeth as she focused. “Th-that’s it, sweetie, you’re gettin’ it!”

Stan smiled, admiring the sight of his boyfriend being so gentle. Rick's soft side was something he reserved for his daughter and Stan. The shorter man turned his head to look out the window. He wondered what it must be like for a child as young as Beth to be in space. He still sometimes struggled to believe it, himself. 

“Yeah! The-there we go! You’ve got this!” Rick grinned, watching his daughter successfully piloting his spaceship. Stan chuckled quietly at the other man’s enthusiasm. He rested his head on the window and let his eyes close. Rick had this under control. He vaguely remembered seeing the taller man set Beth down on the chair alone, but he was too tired to really process anything.

When he next woke up, it was because someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes to see Beth looking up at him, a panicked expression on her face as her small hands grabbed his arm.

“I did something wrong, I don’t know what’s happening.” Her young eyes welled with tears. It was then that Stan noticed the red lights flashing. 

“Why don’t you ask Rick?”

“I tried, but he’s asleep.” That was all she needed to say. When Rick was asleep, he was out. Extended periods of not sleeping caught up to him all at once. “Please help. Dad’ll be mad if I break his ship.” In that moment, Beth looked so vulnerable, and it hit Stan how much she cared what her father thought of her. He’d have to bring that up at some point. 

“It’ll be ok, Beth. We can fix this.” He clambered over to the driver’s seat, trying to figure out what had happened. He was coming up blank. “Alright, I’m just gonna land us down here and we can figure out what’s happening.” 

Beth’s eyes were fixed on her lap, her legs swinging, a look of guilt on her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. 

“Hey, you stop that. This whole thing went pretty well for your first drive.” Stan flashed her a smile, causing her to giggle quietly. He smiled softly to himself. At least she wasn’t frowning anymore.

——

He landed them safely on the Moon. Well, not _the _moon. A moon. He wasn’t entirely sure which one, he had no clue how long he’d slept and how far they'd travelled during that time, and he’d been somewhat distracted watching Rick interacting with Beth beforehand.__

__Rick was still fast asleep, the flashing lights apparently not enough to wake him. Stan sighed, leaning over into the backseat to try and wake the other man. Rick groaned, opening his eyes and blinking heavily. He looked around, noticing they were stationary._ _

__“Why’d w-we stop? W-where are we?”_ _

__“We uh, we broke down. And I was hoping you might be able to help us figure that out.”_ _

__“Fine, let me check.” He leaned over the centre console, pressing some buttons on the dash. “Well th-the air is breathable, thankfully, seeing as I don’t have any spacesuits handy. Get out and I’ll try to figure out what happened.”_ _

__The three piled out of the ship, their shoes crunching slightly on the crushed rocks. As Rick opened up the engine to see if anything was wrong with it, Stan stayed with Beth to ensure she didn’t get hurt somehow. He still had no idea where they were, and therefore no idea what kind of threats this moon posed._ _

__Beth giggled as she jumped around, enjoying the decreased gravitational pull._ _

__“Look, Stan! Look how high I’m jumping!” she squealed. Stan smiled. He was glad she still had the chance to be a child. He knew they couldn’t give her a normal childhood, but at least she could enjoy moments like these. Carefree. Joyous. Their way of life hadn’t gotten to her yet._ _

__She laughed as she jumped and pulled herself onto Stan’s shoulders._ _

__“Hey Lee, you, you got a second?” Rick called._ _

__“Yeah, be right there.” He pulled Beth off his shoulders. “Don’t get lost or hurt, ok? Come straight back if you find anything weird.” She nodded, bouncing away. Stan turned around and made his way over to Rick. “What’s wrong?”_ _

__“Nothing. Th-there’s nothing wrong with the ship, Lee.”_ _

__“What? Then what were all those lights for?”_ _

__“W-we were low on gas. I put in all the lights so I-I know when to fill up even when I’m drunk.”_ _

__“And you didn't mention that earlier? Also, you put lights in so you can fly when you’re drunk?” Stan shook his head. “Never mind. What’s your point?”_ _

__“My point, Lee, is that you said we, you told me the ship broke down, which is a lie, seeing as we definitely had enough fuel to land safely. W-we probably could’ve gone further.”_ _

__Stan stared for a moment. “Still not getting it. You’re talkin’ to the idiot, here.”_ _

__“Y-you’re not-“ Rick cut himself off. “Another time. I’m asking why y-you lied."_ _

__Realisation dawned upon Stan. “Oh.” He sighed. “Beth. She got worried. She thought she’d done something wrong, or she’d broken something. She didn't want you to get mad. I didn’t want to explain everything incase she _had _broken something. She was pretty shaken.”_ ___

____“Oh.” Rick didn’t meet Stan’s eyes. “She doesn’t trust me.”_ _ _ _

____“No! No, it’s not like that. It’s just-“ he sighed again. “Why did you leave her alone to pilot this thing?”_ _ _ _

____Rick shrugged. “She had the hang of it, I-I thought she’d be fine.”_ _ _ _

____“She’s just a kid, Rick!”_ _ _ _

____“She’s _my _kid! Th-that makes her half genius!”___ _ __

______“She’s seven years old! You can’t keep putting all this pressure on her!” Stan sighed, scratching at the stubble on his chin. “Look, I know you’re trying and neither of us know what we’re doing here, but you’ve got to lay off a little. She tries, Rick, and she really is smart, but she’s young. She cares what you think - God, does she care - and you’ve just gotta remember that she’s still learning.”___ _ __

________Rick exhaled deeply. “You’re right, I don’t know what I’m doing.” He sat down on the rocky surface. “I just see so much of myself in her, it’s hard to remember how young she really is. God, I’m an idiot.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stan threw an arm around his shoulder. “It’s ok. We’ll figure this out together."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The two sat in silence, watching the stars of another planet’s constellations. Stan still couldn’t quite wrap his head around it, but it was beautiful. They looked so close, but he knew enough to know that they really weren't. He briefly wondered if he’d been to any of them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The silence was broken when Beth trudged over. “Papa?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Papa? Beth always called Rick dad, what was this about?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Rick elbowed him. “She means y-you, Lee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stan’s eyes widened. He looked down at Beth. “Yeah, sweetie?” he responded, voice wavering._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’m tired. Can we go home now?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Sure, pumpkin.” He smiled, eyes glistening with tears. Happy tears. Rick sniffed, turning away to wipe his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“This damn moon dust. I-it always gets in my eyes.” Rick muttered. Stan smiled. He didn’t buy that for a second, and Rick knew it. “Come on. I-I’ll drive us home.” Rick ruffled Beth’s hair and the little girl smiled. She took her Dad’s hand in one of her own and her Papa’s in the other, and the three of them walked back to the ship._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Beth loved the Moon. She didn’t care that this was a different one. Whenever she looked at the Earth’s Moon, she remembered that day. The day she learnt to fly. The day she bounced higher than she ever had before. The day that she realised that she had two fathers, and that was the best of all._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this and maybe still have some teeth after all that sweetness. 
> 
> Feedback is appreciated, as always!


End file.
